Belfast cruise: Could the stranded ship be ready to leave?

After five months docked in Belfast the Villa Vie Residences cruise ship could be about to set sail.

The ship, which arrived in Belfast to be outfitted on 30 May should have departed four months ago, but was held up as it needed repairs.

Passengers on the world tour were then left stranded in Belfast.

The chief executive of the company behind the ship, Mikael Petterson, said bringing the ship out of a layup “proved a little more challenging than we expected”.

The vessel has some final inspections to pass before it is signed off to sail.

“Ultimately, things haven’t exactly gone our way,” Mr Petterson continued.

“And although we’re crossing our fingers that everything goes beautifully we don’t know.

“If something comes up we’ll have to deal with it”.

The unexpected layover in Belfast has cost the company millions of pounds.

“We’re about £22m deep so far,” he explained.

“We planned for a little more than half of that. So we’re about £10m over budget.

“It’s not the end of the world, but, yeah, it’s certainly a little unexpected.”

Mikael said he understood that some of the passengers were feeling frustrated by the delay.

“I totally get it. Hopefully we can make up for a lot of that, and we’re only days away from actually achieving that dream.”

Petterson laughed off speculation on social media about the future of the ship.

“There are always going to be haters but the non-believers will be believers as we sail out over the next number of days.”

The thought of a winter in Belfast is sobering to even the most upbeat of the Odyssey’s passengers.

Randy and Kit Cassingham sold their home in the Colorado mountains, their cars and all their belongings to become residents of the ship.

Their windowless cabin cost them a six-figure sum. It will be their home for the lifetime of the Odyssey ship.

“It’s lovely,” said Kit.

“They do all the cooking, cleaning and laundry. We can travel the world without the hassle of airports or trains or packing and unpacking.”

But standing at Belfast Harbour and looking over at the ship is a wistful moment for Randy.

“It is frustrating because it feels like we’ve been banned from our own home,” he said.

“We have paid our bills. We live there.

“Yet we can’t be there right now, and it’s all the paperwork and all the inspections and getting things ready, we understand that, but we are getting anxious to go.”

Holly Hennessey, from Florida, is travelling with her six-year-old Siamese cat Captain.

Since they have been in Belfast they have had to move six times, staying in hotels, an apartment and an Airbnb.

She and Captain are now staying at a well-known hotel in the city centre.

Having a cat with her has made the delay a “big challenge”.

“I had all this stuff and cat paraphernalia I had to bring with me,” she told BBC News NI.

“And it’s been tough to find things on short notice.

“Had I known it was going to be for months I’d have booked maybe a place on a farm, or a seaside town.”

After almost four months in Belfast, knowing her local shopkeepers by name and attending a local church, Holly is ready to go.

“I’ve been hopeful for the last 114 days, we just have to wait.

“I wish for everyone’s sake we hadn’t had these delays.

“I wish the communication from the approving agencies would have been better.

“We have really been at their mercy and it’s not a good feeling to let somebody else be in control of things.”

Holly said the Villa Vie cruise company has been good at keeping passengers informed and have updated passengers twice a week at a minimum.

But, for Holly she feels any delay will be worth it.

“I’m doing this because I want to live on a ship. I’m not doing it for the travel as much as I’m doing it for the lifestyle.

“I feel a sense of belonging here,” she added, “but I will not miss your weather”.